Tacky Living

June Tacky Living

I'm back from sabbatical, having cranked out some awful new artwork. Curious? Look here.

New in this issue:

Make a lace mask - Make a hideous decoration for your wall with a few inexpensive materials.

Sour Flush Candy - What could be more enticing than powdered candy dispensed from a small plastic toilet?

Mystery food - This month's addition to the long-running series.

Updated baby shoe gallery - People keep making cool baby shoes, and we keep posting photos of them.

Until the next edition, happy kitsching!

December Tacky Living

New in this issue:

Make a twine toe scrubber - Crochet a length of twine, add a couple of wood beads, and you have a thoughtful addition to stockings or other gifts. Yeehaw.

Chocolate raisins - Quick, simple and delicious. If you stack them in a pile that looks like dog poop, they're even a little tacky.

Mystery food - This month's addition to the long-running series.

Please also see the home page for a list of seasonal articles from the archives, general holiday cheer as well as cheap and thoughtful gifts to make. While giving gifts should never require spending a lot of money or going into debt, this year it may be particularly important for many people.

On another topic, September marked the beginning of our tenth year publishing this thing. It's high time to ask for your suggestions and shake things up a bit. What sorts of articles would you like to see this coming year? Do you know of soon-to-be-published popular culture books which we should request from publishers for reviews? Do drop us a note.

May your holidays be filled with music and good food, and as always, happy kitsching!

It's the all-turkey issue!

Or, if you'd prefer, it's a turkey of an issue. Here in the U.S., we're ramping down to the gluttonous orgy that is Thanksgiving. This will be followed by the annual purchasing of idiotic crap just so we can say we gave everybody Christmas gifts, accompanied by a side order of credit card debt and Seasonal Affective Disorder. Gosh, doesn't it all sound wonderful? I know I can hardly wait. (Rolls eyes.)

Anyhow, we have some sort-of-special articles to accompany you into the Thanksgiving season. They may seem a bit familiar to readers who have been around awhile; the lure of doing an all-turkey issue was too much to bear.

Wishbone Jewelry - Why waste a perfectly good wishbone by breaking it in half? With a little spray paint and some rhinestones, you can make a piece of jewelry that will turn heads and stomachs.

Turkey Parfait - Traditional holiday dishes layered in the order in which they'll be eaten. Mmmm. Can't wait to see this one at the table!

Cheese Turkey - A disgusting-looking turkey-shaped cheese ball. Bring this one to the potluck, and you'll never be bothered with cooking duties (or invitations) again.

Next month, we'll have an exciting array of ~~tasteless crap~~ stocking stuffers you can make from items you may already have laying around the house. Until then, happy kitsching!

October Tacky Living

In this issue:

Glow-in-the-dark Skeleton Gloves - Cheap and simple to make.

Popcorn snowflakes - A really worthless recipe, unless you're trapped on a desert island with popcorn and a can of sweetened condensed milk.

Keeping 'em busy, part II - More quick, cheap ways to keep little kids busy while preserving the remnants of your sanity.

Answer to September Mystery Food quiz - There were some great guesses this month!

Until next month, happy kitsching!

September Tacky Living

In this issue:

Ice cream sandwich cake - A sophisticated take on a tacky classic, including notes of raspberry and bittersweet chocolate.

Heinz Tomato Ketchup Cookbook - An affectionate and nostalgic collection of 40 ketchup-based recipes, fun facts, and vintage advertising.

Mystery Food - The most recent entry in our long-running series of obscure and disgusting food photos.

Updated baby shoe FAQs - A reader offers a new suggestion for creating non-slip soles.

Until next month, happy kitsching!

August Tacky Living

In this issue:

Keeping them busy - With summer winding down, you may be running out of ideas for keeping the little ones occupied. Here are a few of ours.

Don't chuck that basin! - Guest author Elizabeth Purinton tells us what to do with with those shallow, crescent-shaped containers provided by the hospital.

Crayon ice cream - With the assistance of food coloring, vanilla ice cream is transformed into a technicolor treat.

A couple of years ago, we highlighted some special artwork on display at the Pacific International Quilt Festival. One of them, "Spies" has been traveling the country for two years, but will be sold at auction August 9 at the Pacific Northwest Quiltfest in Seattle. This is a great opportunity to bid on a hip piece of artwork, either in person or via mail.

Until next month, happy kitsching!

July Tacky Living

Vacations are wonderful! Ours has filled us with a disturbing amount of energy and ideas even more vulgar than we'd had before. Enjoy.

Grapes of Blat Tissue Cover - Create a one-of-a-kind (and by one-of-a-kind, we mean cute but hideous) tissue box cover with plastic grapes. This would be a good use for the fake fruit stash grandma left you.

Stitchery and Crafts - We review a marvelous literary treasure from the past, replete with unintentionally funny projects and genuinely helpful crafting instructions.

Picking Perfect Souvenirs - Guidelines for picking memorable vacation souvenirs with examples of some of the best. An oldy but a goodie from the archives.

Updated baby shoe archive - A reader has modified the original shoe pattern to create sandals. If you're interested in making baby shoes, check it out.

Until next month, happy kitsching!

June Tacky Living

Everyone needs a vacation now and then, and we at Tacky Living are no exception.

Remember the days of youth, of being trapped at school in the springtime? The weather would be just perfect, maybe about seventy degrees or so. As you peeked out the window, you'd see big fat robins hopping around outside, stuffing their bellies with whatever disgusting thing it is that robins eat. All the flowers were in bloom, puffball clouds were lazily drifting across the sky. You knew in your heart that was where you belonged - out there with the flowers and the robins, not sitting in typing class beside some creepy pimple-coated guy with stinky feet.

Times change. We aren't school kids anymore. We're adults! Bwahahahaha! We don't have to spend all of springtime in a glorified cell scritching pencils across a piece of paper! No, we can pack a lunch and go to the beach, head to an art exhibit, or check out an incredibly tacky amusement park we've heard about.

Vacation. It's a good thing. We've been doing this web magazine for what, nine years now? Time for a break. Hasta la vista baby! (Or, as we like to say, "hostile the pizza".)

Oh. You want some different articles to look at? Okay, here's some stuff you might enjoy from the archives. Or not.

Custom cake topper - June is a popular month for weddings. If you're getting hitched, turn some heads with a plastic doppelganger.

Cake mix cookies - Have a sweet tooth but you're all out of baking ingredients? Or maybe you're just a lousy cook? A batch of adequate, if not excellent, cookies is only as far away as a box of cake mix.

Monster truck maze - Help Bubba get past the obstacles and reach the monster truck rally. Fun for the whole family, provided that you're dysfunctional.

Until next month, happy kitsching!

May Tacky Living

Guess what! It's time for the May edition of Tacky Living, and we didn't write one single stinking article about Mother's Day crafts. If you send us a fat enough check, we'll continue this tradition next year. So what do we have to offer this month? Let's see ...

Houseguests: 12 Helpful Tips for Successful Entertaining - Are houseguests descending upon your humble abode? Never fear - Tacky Living is here to help with cleaning and decorating tips!

Hipster Clock - Make a cool-looking and cheap hipster clock based on Ikea products, or simply get annoyed while reading our instructions. We've documented our mistakes so you can avoid repeating them!

Plastic Bag Rug - Do your bit for the planet by transforming ugly plastic shopping bags into an equally ugly doormat.

Happy kitsching!

Tanya

April Tacky Living

In this month's edition of Tacky Living:

Tax Day Cake - Make your tax day something to remember with a delicious chocolate and raspberry-flavored faux bonfire topped with marzipan tax dollars.

The Backgroundulator 2000 - More photography on a shoestring. Make your own tabletop photography aid with a piece of plastic, a couple of yardsticks and some shoestrings.

Helpful Household Hints - Does spring cleaning fever have you in its grip? Wondering where to begin? We're here to help.

Baby Shoe Gallery - Updated with new reader photos.

Happy kitsching!

Tanya

March Tacky Living

It's here and chock full of nutty goodness! In this month's edition of Tacky Living:

Happy Hollow - Come with us as we visit this little-known jewel of American kitsch in San Jose, CA.

Easter Egg Stand - With a permanent marker and a few bits of paper, you too can turn an insipid plastic Easter egg into something quite tasteless.

Family Creative Workshop - We review this series from the past, which is one of the most amazing and eclectic craft book collections ever written.

Frankenbunny - A treat from the archives; turn a humble bunny ornament into something quite different.

Baby Shoe Gallery - Updated with new reader photos.

Happy kitsching!

Tanya

February Tacky Living

In this month's edition of Tacky Living:

Spool People - Get out your thread spools and crafting leftovers and whip up some tacky little dolls!

Trashcanulator 2000 - Photography on a shoestring! A macrophotography aid made from a $2 trash can.

U-Print Valentine card, 2008 - How do I scorn thee? Let me count the ways ...

U-Print Valentine card, 2007 - Last year's card, which is as disgusting as ever.

January Mystery Food - Answer to last month's Mystery Food quiz.

Baby Shoe Gallery - Updated with new reader photos.

Baby Shoe FAQs - Updated with new sole material.

Happy kitsching!

Tanya

Merry Christmas!

A link for your amusement:

TackyChristmasYards.com - Just in case you're not feeling in the holiday mood quite yet.

December Tacky Living

In this month's edition of Tacky Living:

Trimmings for your tree - Get out your crafting leftovers and whip up some retro hipster ornaments!

Mystery food - Odd and vaguely disgusting, as usual

Light of India - A conflagration of Indian matchbox labels

Also see the list on the home page for holiday-related articles from the archives.

Happy holidays and happy kitsching!

Tanya

November Tacky Living

In this month's edition of Tacky Living:

A Turkey of a Wall Hanging - An update of a childhood classic.

Cheese Turkey - Sculpt a turkey centerpiece from a cheese ball. Disgusting for carnivores and vegetarians alike.

Turkey Parfait - Thanksgiving dinner in a glass

Last month's Mystery Food Quiz

Thanksgiving Wishbone Choker & Earrings

Updated baby shoe gallery

Happy kitsching!

Tanya